The Kanya&Kage is, as the name suggests, a merger. A merger, not only of two last names, but of two people who have both run art spaces before out of love for art. True to the motto 1+1=3,  André Kanya and Jan Kage have poured content respectively into a Kreuzberg basement converted into a white cube.

André had just started to develop the rooms in Eisenbahnstraße 10 according to his own designs when he wrote me that he wanted to show me his new project. There is the quote handed down by Pasteur that chance meets the prepared mind. I had already been looking for a few months for spaces in which I could show solo shows by artists I had been taking to fairs or presenting in curated exhibitions for years, in addition to the artist-curated SCHAU FENSTER exhibitions. Now I stood on the construction site and was thrilled. Two, three, four rooms in which to show art. And then a cross-vaulted cellar made of red brick, which immediately evoked in me the romantic image of a New York jazz cellar of the 1950s. A speakeasy bar. André's concept for this space: create a shabby chicque flair with velvet armchairs and other interiors.

Several lunch and dinner meetings followed, mostly at Market Hall IX, diagonally across the street. Intense conversations about how to bring together our partly, but of course not always overlapping tastes and thus what program and organizational form we wanted to give ourselves. And then for Gallery Weekend 2018 a furious opening of the - except for the counter installation by Tobias Dostal - empty, new space.

Since then, we have had 26 exhibitions, 13 artist talks, 9 concerts, a few video interviews, and many wonderful evenings - every single one of them full of lively conversations and exciting encounters.

Because the Kanya&Kage is also a place of encounter and exchange with the bar run by our excellent mixologist Jacob Hannestad during the openings, concerts and until the lockdowns. Very much in the spirit of Joseph Beuys, who spoke of art as social sculpture.

We are happy that in the last three years, despite all the difficulties, we have been able to so successfully present and communicate the work of wonderful contemporary artists. Next year will bring new shows, both by artists who have not yet exhibited here, and new work by those who have already made their mark here. And definitely many exciting evenings, interesting encounters and new friendships.

- Jan Kage, 08-2021

3 years of Kanya&Kage Gallery
26.08.2021 - 26.09.2021
Group exhibition with 17 artists from 3 years Kanya&Kage

Alexandra Baumgartner, Clemens Behr, Anina Brisolla, Brad Downey, Stefan Draschan, Amélie Esterházy, Lukasz Furs, Lukas Glinkowski, Andy Kania, Oliver Mark, Danni Pantel, Jirka Pfahl, Orson Sieverding, Pola Sieverding, Marta Vovk, Lisa Tiemann, Maximilian Rödel

Kanya&Kage_Eisenbahnstr. 10_10997 Berlin